Maybe She's Not So Bad
by missmartian369
Summary: From the moment he met her the scarab has not been fond of Traci Thurston. But can she change his mind?


**A/N: Here is my second Blue13 one-shot! I know I couldn't have been the only person to sense that the scarab was jealous of Traci when watching the helicopter scene in Illusion of Control? That scarab was totally jealous lol. Here is my take on it. I hope you all like it!**

**I do not own anything Young Justice.**

* * *

When the scarab told Jaime that he preferred their partnership over being a slave to The Reach, he meant it. Even with all the disagreements that they have had ever since he locked onto his spine, he'd rather be with Jaime Reyes. And for the past two years they have been working pretty well together, a lot better than how they used to be. However, they still bickered. From school work, hero work, excessive use of force, the plasma cannon, you name it, they bicker about it. And one of the interesting things they tended to bicker about was girls.

Now that he felt more comfortable with his situation with the scarab on his back, Jaime felt confident enough to try dating again. Before he found the scarab, Jaime went on a couple of dates, but those dates never really turned into anything special or long term. He wasn't too harped on it though, because he had at least one constant in his life, his best friend Tye Longshadow, and vice versa for Tye, as well. But eventually Tye met Asami during the Reach invasion and eventually became a couple, and Jaime couldn't be more thrilled for his friend finding love. But seeing how happy his friend was made Jaime want kind of happiness in his life, as well, so he decided to get back out there and try.

However, dating wasn't easy with the scarab on his back. Whenever he was on a date, he'd end up bickering with his scarab. That of course weirded a lot of his dates out and resulted in him not getting a second date. Hell he'd be lucky if he even made it to a third date. He didn't understand why that the scarab always chose to pick a fight with him while he was on a date. One night as he was chilling in his room he decided to ask.

"Why is it that you always have to ruin my dates?" Jaime asked his scarab, looking up from his comic book.

"_The answer is simple Jaime Reyes." _The scarab started, _"You simply should not be wasting your time with them." _He added.

"Wait what?!" Jaime asked.

"_You take time out of your day to pursue these women who are most definitely not worth your time. In fact, this whole dating process you are doing is just a waste of your time. When you could be doing something more useful for yourself. It baffles me how you don't see it." _The scarab said.

"You can't be serious." Jaime said, "I'm not wasting my time by dating. Don't you know that it's a part of life for people to date and try to find their life partner?" he asked.

"_You already have a life partner. Me. So you don't need to worry about this so called dating." _The scarab said.

"Okay I like you, but not like that." Jaime said, rolling his eyes, "And our situation is not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about love _hermano_. I want to find love with somebody. To find someone who will love me for me. Who won't run away from the weirdness of our situation." He added.

"_Once again you have that in me. While not romantically, I am everything you have stated. So what is the point of this dating you speak of?!" _The scarab asked aggravated.

Jaime just sighed and face palmed, sliding his hand down his face. The scarab just did not get it.

Did he go on more dates, though? Yes. Did the scarab keep picking fights with him during those dates? Yes. And did his dates continue to get weirded out? Yes.

It was like a cycle that Jaime just couldn't break. Not with the scarab fused to his spine like that. Maybe he just wasn't meant to find the happiness that Tye and Asami have. Maybe he was just meant to be alone and with his scarab. He thought of giving up on love. He almost did…..until Traci Thurston came along.

He and the team were hanging out in the Watchtower lounge when Miss Martian called them into the meeting room. When the team got there they saw Miss Martian standing next to Zatanna and a brunette teenager.

"Team, this is Traci Thurston. She will be training under Zatanna and will be joining the team as Thirteen." Miss Martian said smiling.

"Hi." Traci said, giving the team a nervous wave.

"Hi!" The team greeted back, and proceeded to introduce themselves. However when she got to Jaime he seemed to be frozen in his place just looking at her.

"Is there something on my face?" Traci asked, feeling her face.

"No…I just….I just…Hi I'm Jaime." Jaime said, sticking out his hand to shake hers.

"Traci." Traci said, shaking his hand back. She then noticed that Jaime kept a grip on her hand after the shake.

"Um…you can let go of my hand now." Traci laughed nervously.

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry!" Jaime said, letting go of her hand and rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed. He could hear the rest of the team snickering.

_This Traci Thurston is causing you to lose complete control of your senses. You can't even think straight." _The scarab said.

"Shut up!" Jaime hissed at the scarab, and turned back to Traci and saw a weirded out look on her face. Jaime was mortified and the team laughed even harder.

Things went easier the next time Jaime saw Traci. The team was doing a training session at the Watchtower and while they were watching Static and Wonder Girl spar, Jaime and Traci did some small talk. Of course the scarab started picking an argument with Jaime and once he said something the Jaime felt the need to respond to, Traci finally asked him the question that's been on her mind ever since she met Jaime.

"Jaime who are you talking to?" Traci asked, tilting her head to the side.

Jaime didn't answer at first because he didn't know how she would react to his whole story. But he heard not malice behind her voice when she asked the question, so he might as well. He explained everything to her about the scarab and once he was done, he awaited nervously for her reaction.

"Ohhhhh…..okay cool." Traci said with a smile.

"Wait….what? You aren't weirded out by it? You don't think it's weird that I essentially talk to myself?" Jaime asked.

"Jaime I have bad luck related powers, who am I to judge? And I talk to myself sometimes, too, who cares." Traci said, shrugging her shoulders.

Jaime was stunned. This was the first girl he was interested in romantically that was not weirded out by his bickering with the scarab. In fact, she was cool with it. He felt his heart flutter with happiness. Maybe this could work.

The scarab, however, had other thoughts. Due to the reaction that Jaime had to meeting Traci, the scarab wasn't too fond of Traci. He didn't like the affect that she had on his host. He basically lost all control just by looking at her. How does one person have such an effect on another? But he wasn't too worried, Jaime Reyes was smart enough to see that and would never pursue someone who had that much of a negative impact on him. Right?

Wrong. Jaime and Traci only grew closer after that encounter and eventually became a couple. Jaime was ecstatic! He was finally experiencing the happiness that Tye had with Asami! Traci was everything he could have ever wished for!

The scarab was the exact opposite. He couldn't believe how far Jaime and Traci's relationship has gotten. He couldn't believe how much his host has let the Traci Thurston in! Couldn't he see how much of a negative impact she was having on him?! Losing all sense of focus whenever she was in the room, not thinking clearly and only thinking over her?! Not even listening to the advice he gives him and listening to hers when she said the same thing he did?! Okay well it wasn't necessarily the same thing as one was less violent, but still! Prime example being the helicopter situation! He could have brought the helicopter down, but no he went with the Traci Thurston's way instead. Sure his idea was more violent, but he could have brought the helicopter down none-the-less!

And to top it all off he was letting her personal problems become his own! When the Traci Thurston was having a breakdown at the Outsiders celebration, Jaime Reyes decided to go out and "talk" to her. The scarab tried to stop it.

"_This makes no sense Jaime Reyes. Why focus your attention on something that shouldn't even concern you?" _The scarab asked.

"Scarab…I mean this in the nicest way possible….shut up." Jaime said sternly as he walked out onto the balcony.

The scarab was shocked. Out of all the times that he and him have argued, he has never shut him down like this. Everything has been different ever since his host met the Traci Thurston. He became less attentive of him and more of her and valued her opinion more than his. He couldn't believe it! Couldn't his host see that he was just had his best interest at heart? He may not agree with or understand Jaime Reyes as times, but he does care about him. But apparently his host just wouldn't see that.

He didn't understand. It just…it just wasn't fair.

* * *

Fast forward to New Year's Ever where Jaime's parents decided to take a trip to Austin, Texas, to celebrate and wouldn't be back until the evening of New Year's Day. Milagro, Jaime's younger sister, decided to go with them while Jaime chose to stay at home since it was already decided that he was going to bring in the New Year with his friends at his house. His parents understood, but they did tell him to not let to party get too out of control.

His friends arrived at his house around 6:00PM, they started off doing things as a group like playing a game of Cards Against Humanity, playing Just Dance on the Wii, and even watched funny YouTube videos on the television in the living room. However as the night went on and 11:00P hit, his friends were scattered around the living room doing various activities: Tye, Asami, Brenda, and Paco were playing a game of Uno, Bart and Ed were paying Best Fiends on their phones, and Traci, Virgil, Cassie, Garfield, and Perdita were watching the news channels that was New York festivities, as well as the countdown, on the television, with Beyoncé being the musical performance of the night.

Jaime was currently in the kitchen trying to clean up a bit. He just finished cleaning the dishes in the sink when he heard an excited shout coming from the living room. He looked through the bar ledge that connected the kitchen to the living room and saw that Perdita has bouncing up and down with joy.

"Oh my gosh! Beyoncé is performing Single Ladies live! I love that song!" Perdita exclaimed as she started dancing. Garfield laughed at his girlfriends' excitement and got up to join her.

"I forgot how much you love this song. We haven't heard it in a while." Garfield told her while dancing.

"This is my favorite Beyoncé song ever!" Perdita exclaimed, continuing to dance like she hasn't danced before. Traci, Virgil, and Cassie decided to join in on the fun and began dancing as well. After seeing all the fun their friends were having, Bart, Ed, Asami, Brenda, and Paco paused the games they were playing to join in, and after some pushing from Asami, Tye joined in. Jaime smiled to himself as he watched his friends dance to the song.

"Those guys are crazy." Jaime laughed to himself as he got back to cleaning the dishes.

"_They are becoming too loud and crazy, which is something your parents strictly told you to avoid with this party." _The Scarab said.

"Relax they are not getting too out of control." Jaime said, rolling his eyes, "They're just having fun listening to Beyoncé." He added.

"_I still don't understand the appeal you people have over this Beyoncé. How can one person have so much power over millions of people?" _The Scarab asked.

"Because she's like…amazing." Jaime said like it should be obvious, "Besides it's not like she's controlling anybody. Some of her fans are just too much sometimes." He added, shrugging his shoulders.

Before his scarab could say anything else, Traci rushed into the kitchen.

"Jaime! Jaime! You're missing all of the fun, come on!" Traci said excitedly as she tugged on Jaime's arm.

"Traci its fine I can hear you guys perfectly fine from in here." Jaime told her, chuckling, "Besides I want to get most of this mess cleaned up now so I'm not cleaning up a lot after the party." He added.

"Oh come on that can wait until later." Traci said.

"And then I'll be up later than I want to be just by cleaning up. Since I'm hosting the party in my house I'm making the responsible decision to start the cleaning process now." Jaime said as he finished up cleaning the dishes.

"Oh you're no fun." Traci said playfully. Jaime laughed and went over to the pantry to start putting away the plates.

"I'm everyone is having a good time." Jaime said.

"Are you kidding? We're having a ball!" Traci said, walking over to him. She then started to help him put the plates away.

"I'm happily surprised that Cassie was able to make it. Lately she's been in Gotham with Tim all of the time and since she missed the Thanksgiving festivities I didn't know if she was going to come to this New Years' Eve party." Jaime said.

"Oh they broke up like two weeks ago." Traci said.

"Wait what?" Jaime asked surprised, turning his head towards his girlfriend.

"Yeah. She told me that she tried everything to salvage their relationship but nothing seemed to work. She told Tim how she as feeling and he ended up feeling the same way so they parted on mutual terms." Traci said.

"Oh wow that sucks. She and Tim seemed so happy these past two years." Jaime said.

"_I don't know why you're so surprised. I saw that coming a mile away." _The scarab said bluntly.

"Dude!" Jaime said, looking over his shoulder to give the scarab a disapproving look.

"…..I assume scarab made a snarky remark?" Traci asked with a small smirk.

"How'd you guess?" Jaime said, giving her a smirk in return.

"I just know you." Traci said smoothly, "But getting back to the topic she was a little sad in the beginning, but form what she has been telling me during our nightly phone calls, Virgil has been the one who has mainly help her through it, besides me of course." She added.

"Oh really?" Jaime said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yep! In fact, she's been talking about him a lot lately. Even before her and Tim broke up. " Traci said, "She even spends most of her time with him now." She added.

"Interesting." Jaime said. They both heard another shout of excitement coming from the living room and went over to the bar ledge to see what happened. Turns out a dancing melody was playing during the break between Beyoncé's performances at the New York festivities they were viewing on the television and Virgil ended up dipping Cassie to the melody. Cassie laughed as she gripped Virgil around his neck and continued laughing as he brought her back up, their grips still around each other. Jaime and Traci gave each other knowing looks.

"_I saw that coming a mile away, too." _The scarab said bluntly.

"Dude!" Jaime said once again, glaring over his shoulder. Traci just laughed.

"Another snarky comment?" Traci asked.

"How'd you guess?" Jaime asked once again.

"Like I said before, I know you." Traci said, "And I think that in due time Cassie will be just fine and once again off the market." She added as she went back to putting away the plates.

Jaime joined her and once they finished putting away the plates they started to put away the pans, and that's when Beyoncé started performing XO.

"Oh I love this song! Come on dance with me!" Traci said, grabbing Jaime's arm once more.

"Traci I told you I have to clean up." Jaime said, chuckling.

"Oh come on live a little." Traci said, elbowing him in his side softly.

"Hey that tickles." Jaime told her.

"Oh that tickles you say?" Traci said smirking, an evil glimmer in her eyes.

"Traci don't you dare." Jaime told her, knowing what she was thinking.

"What's wrong Jaime?" Traci asked innocently, "Can't handle a tickle attack!" She stated as she began to tickle him.

"Hey! Hey! Stop!" Jaime said laughing hysterically as he tried to fend her off to no avail. Her hands eventually made its way to his back and that's when she accidentally gripped the scarab.

"_She's trying to attack us with her witch craft magic! Activating plasma cannon now!" _The scarab exclaimed. Before he could though, Jaime pushed Traci away and backed up a few feet away from her.

"No! Stop it now!" Jaime exclaimed. He looked back over to Traci and saw the shocked look on her face and felt his heart drop.

"No Traci it's not what you think! It's the scarab! He was trying to-!" Jaime started.

"Your scarab doesn't like me, does he?" Traci asked quietly. Jaime just looked at her in shock.

"How….how'd you guess?" Jaime asked, knowing the answer.

"I know you Jaime." Traci answered softly. Jaime noticed the sadness in her eyes and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey Traci don't worry about him." Jaime told her with a smile on his face, "He just really has a bad attitude right now. Why don't you go back into the living room with the others and I'll join you as soon as I'm done?" he offered. Traci just looked up at him and then gave him a hug.

"Ok." She said into his chest, released her hold on him and walked back into the living room. Jaime watched her go and after a minute he gave out an aggravated sigh.

"Bug what am I going to do with you?" He asked his scarab, clearly annoyed.

The scarab didn't answer.

Jaime finished cleaning up in the kitchen just 10 minutes before the countdown. As he made his way back into the living room his friends were chatting it up in preparation for the countdown into the New Year. Before they knew it the countdown began and once it reached 10 they didn't hold back.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone screamed, making noise with their New Years' gadgets.

And of course in celebration of the New Year everyone kissed the one that they loved. So Brenda and Paco, Tye and Asami, Garfield and Perdita, and Bart and Ed all gave each other a kiss. Cassie ended up kissing Virgil on the cheek, which resulted in him blushing profusely.

And as Jaime and Traci kissed the scarab felt only one thing, disgust.

* * *

A little bit after midnight Jaime's friends decided to call in a night, especially the members of The Outsiders since that had a training session later that day. One by one his friends left his home until only he and Traci were left. Traci helped Jaime straighten up his living room before going upstairs to take a shower. Jaime was picking up any remaining food or beverages laying out when the Scarab piped up.

"_Why is the Traci Thurston still here Jaime Reyes?" _The scarab asked, _"I thought that this party has ended." _He added.

"It is over, but Traci is staying the night." Jaime told him.

"_What why?" _The scarab asked, his ton demanding an answer.

"Dude chill. Traci and I haven't spent that much time together since our celebration party back at The Hub after our first Outsiders mission, so I offered for her to stay the night tonight so we can have some alone time before I have to go back to the Hub for training." Jaime answered.

"_This is just another thing that proves that the Traci Thurston is not good for you! Why risk repercussions from your parents just to please her?!" _The scarab asked, angry that his host could be so stupid.

"Will please chill out?!" Jaime exclaimed, "And I'm not doing this just for her I'm doing it for me, too. I miss her. Plus my parents won't find out she'll be gone before they even get back." He added.

"_That does not mean that they won't find out in the future! So why even risk punishment for this girl?! Is it because you want to procreate with her?!" _The scarab asked. Jaime nearly dropped the bowl of chips he was cleaning up in shock.

"We're…..not….going…..to do….that!" Jaime said between breaths as he regained his composure, "We're not ready for that yet. I just want to spend time with her alone without having to share her _hermano_. I miss her." He added softly. The scarab remained quiet.

"I don't know what your problem is or why you don't like Traci when she has proven to be the best thing to ever happen to me. I just wish you saw that and would just give her a chance." Jaime whispered, and resumed cleaning without the scarab saying anything else.

When he finished cleaning up, Jaime turned off all the lights downstairs and went upstairs to his room. He found Traci lying in his bed under the covers looking at her phone. He then got some pajamas form his drawer and went into the bathroom to shower. Once he was done he went back into his room and joined Traci under the covers and they talked for about thirty minutes before Traci seemingly feel asleep. Jaime turned onto his stomach and turned off his light and fell asleep within minutes.

As the night went on the scarab found himself caught up in his own thoughts. Jaime wished that he would give Traci Thurston a chance. A chance? A chance for what? He already knew that she was no good for him so there was no need for this chance to be given. The question should be why couldn't Jaime Reyes see that this scarab was just looking out for him? That he was just trying to protect him from this Traci Thurston? That he was-!

The scarabs thoughts were interrupted by Traci sighing, followed by her opening her eyes. She blinked them a bit before her sights focused on him.

"_She's staring at me." _The scarab thought, _"Probably trying to come up with a plan of attack." _He added. Then he saw her lift her arm and move her hand towards him.

"_I knew it! I knew she was planning to attack us off guard with her witch craft magic! I tried to warn Jaime Reyes but he was too foolish to listen! He was too-!" _The scarab didn't even finish his thought as he felt Traci place her hand over him and began to softly stroke him with her thumb.

"_Wha…..what is this? What is she doing? And why….why does it feel so soothing?" _The scarab thought to himself.

"You know…..you're always ready to defend Jaime whenever it looks like he's being hurt. Whether it's from a playful roughhouse or from an actual fight, you're ready to protect him." Traci whispered, trying not to wake Jaime up.

The scarab was confused. What exactly was happening here?

"And its funny how you're go-to is always the plasma cannon." Traci whispered with a small laugh.

In any other situation the scarab probably would have laughed, too.

"You must really care about him." Traci whispered.

"…_..I do…" _The scarab thought to himself.

"I care about him, too. A lot. Like a lot a lot. I love him scarab." Traci whispered.

The scarab didn't know what to think or what to say. So he just…..continued to listen.

"He's such an amazing man. Everything I could have dreamed of. And just seeing him on TV or social media as an Outsider being the hero that I know him to be. I'm so proud of him scarab, but I also worry about him." Traci whispered.

The scarab continued to listen.

"Every time I see him on screen I get so worried he's going to get hurt. I know he was at risk getting hurt when he was on the covert team, but being out in the public puts a target on his back. But you know what calms my worries down? Knowing that he has you to protect him." Traci whispered.

The scarab was stunned. Did…..did she really feel that way.

"I know that you will protect him. That you will do your damnest to make sure that no body hurts him. Just like you try and make sure that he won't get hurt by me." Traci whispered, "I want you to know that I would never hurt Jaime, scarab. He means too much to me." She added.

The scarab was silent as she removed her hand from him and brought it back by her side.

"I love him." She whispered again, "And I hope one day I can prove that to you." She added. She then closed her eyes and in moments, fell back asleep.

The scarab was just stunned. He really didn't know what to think. From the moment his host met her, he has always been mistrusting of the Traci Thurston, believing her to be a distraction, something not worth Jaime Reyes' time, something that just wasn't good for him. And all of a sudden he finds those thoughts diminish as she gives him a heartfelt speech about Jaime. Jaime Reyes. His host.

He feels the walls of defensiveness start to crumble as he starts to feel like he could trust her. Maybe this was the chance that Jaime Reyes so desperately asked of him.

Maybe he was wrong.

Maybe she was good for him.

Maybe…maybe she's not so bad.

* * *

**A/N: I hope this came out good. I also don't really think that the scarab is mean, he's just a little (or a lot) tough around the edges.**

**Here are the translations to the words that are in Spanish:**

**Hermano = Brother**

**I hope you guys enjoyed! Leave a comment if ya'll want! :):)**


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